CONVICTION VOIDED IN TEXAS MURDER

By ROBERTO SURO, Special to the New York Times

Published: March 2, 1989

HOUSTON, March 1—
A Texas appeals court today set aside the murder conviction of Randall Dale Adams, who has spent 12 years behind bars proclaiming his innocence.

The appellate judges found that Dallas prosecutors had suppressed evidence and knowingly used perjured testimony to obtain a conviction against Mr. Adams for the 1976 slaying of a Dallas police officer.

The unanimous opinion by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals opened a new chapter in a long, highly publicized legal dispute that has seen Mr. Adams's defenders repeatedly allege that he was the victim of a frame-up. A documentary last year drew widespread attention to the case.

Mr. Adams, now 40 years old, was a 28-year-old manual laborer with no criminal record when he was found guilty and was given the death sentence for the shooting death of Police Office Robert Wood of Dallas. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. Decision Up to Prosecutors

Mr. Adams, currently held in a state prison, was ordered released to the custody of the Dallas County Sheriff. Prosecutors in Dallas will now have to decide whether to seek a new trial. If they do not pursue the charges, Mr. Adams will be freed.

''I have firmly believed someday, some way, somehow, I would prove my case,'' Mr. Adams said today in an interview with The Associated Press at the prison.

In Dallas, Assistant District Attorney Norm Kinne was quoted by The Associated Press as saying the case was being reviewed to determine whether there was enough evidence for a retrial.

The appeals court decision released today did not rule on Mr. Adams's guilt or innocence but found that several actions by the prosecutors deprived Mr. Adams of a fair trial. Also, the 27-page opinion written by Judge M. P. Duncan asserted that Mr. Adams might have been acquitted if the prosecutors had behaved properly.

The Adams case was reviewed last year by State District Judge Larry Baraka, who recommended that a new trial be held. The appellate court repeated without comment Judge Baraka's finding that ''applying the law which places the burden of proof on the State beyond a reasonable doubt, the court would have found the applicant not guilty at a bench trial.''

In deciding to set aside Mr. Adams's conviction the appellate court reviewed indications that the murder was actually committed by the chief prosecution witness, David Harris, who was 16 years old at the time and faced a variety of criminal charges. Witness Recanted

Mr. Harris, who is now on Texas' Death Row for another killing, testified at Mr. Adams's trial that he saw the defendant shoot Officer Wood. The witness later recanted and proclaimed Mr. Adams innocent.

The appellate court cited Mr. Harris's assertion that he testified against Mr. Adams ''because of promises made to him by the prosecutor, Douglas Mulder.'' Although Mr. Mulder denied that a deal was struck, the court noted that following Mr. Adams's trial the charges against Mr. Harris ''disappeared.''

The decision to set aside Mr. Adams's conviction was based on three findings that Mr. Mulder, an assistant district attorney at the time of the trial, acted improperly in handling the testimony of another key witness, Emily Miller, who identified Mr. Adams as being at the scene of the crime.

Mr. Mulder's handling of Mrs. Miller was specifically cited in a finding that ''the State was guilty of suppressing evidence favorable to the accused, deceiving the trial court during the applicant's trial and knowingly using perjured testimony.''

Mr. Mulder, who is now practicing law in Dallas, did not return several phone calls to his office. He testified in last year's hearing before Judge Baraka that he never saw the evidence cited by the defense as suppressed or forgot to turn it over.

The American Bar Association's Standards for Criminal Justice state that it is ''unprofessional conduct'' for a prosecutor to knowingly offer false testimony.